Interstitial pneumonia from mitomycin

Pulmonary disease has been associated with several chemotherapeutic agents but has not been reported in patients receiving the alkylating agent mitomycin (Mutamycin). We describe here the cases of three patients who developed interstitial pneumonia while receiving mitomycin therapy. Their clinical features included dyspnea, cough, and occasionally fever; reticular infiltrates were seen on chest roentgenogram. Histologically, diffuse alveolar septal edema, mononuclear-cell interstitial infiltrates, hypertrophy of alveolar lining cells, and alveolar septal collagen deposition were characteristic. Treatment with corticosteroids was associated with a rapid therapeutic response in all three patients.